Preview: Euclid Panthers vs. Shaker Heights Red Raiders
Euclid is 2-8 against Shaker Heights since February of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Euclid Panthers will head out on the road to take on the Shaker Heights Red Raiders at 7:30 p.m. The two teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with eight consecutive losses for Euclid and nine for Shaker Heights.
Euclid pushed their score all the way to 83 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They were the victim of a tough 109-83 loss at the hands of Mentor. While losing is never fun, Euclid can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 450th, while Mentor is ranked 58th).
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Thai Duncan, who scored 24 points. Another player making a difference was Malachai Spikes, who scored 17 points.
Meanwhile, Shaker Heights suffered a tough 63-43 loss at the hands of Rhodes on Saturday.
Euclid's defeat was their sixth straight at home, which dropped their record down to 3-15. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.0 points per game. As for Shaker Heights, they have not been sharp recently as the team's lost ten of their last 11 matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-15 record this season.
Euclid came up short against Shaker Heights when the teams last played back in January, falling 67-57. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Shaker Heights' Jerith Eaddy, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and ten rebounds. Now that Euclid knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
